


Tin Man

by mysterytour



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Gen, Mental Illness, Post-Star Trek: Nemesis, Self Harm, retconned the end so Data is still alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 16:09:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9392774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysterytour/pseuds/mysterytour
Summary: ...there are only two minds: Gomtuu’s, and his own. They share every thought and emotion. Sometimes it feels as if they are only one.





	

When the thoughts of those around you invade your every waking moment and your dreams too, and when their memories bleed into your own how can you possibly be lonely? And yet Tam Elbrun was alone. The irony of it cycled around in his head over and over until he was laughing and crying at the same time or screaming. When this happened in public the thoughts of the people around him would turn on him like an avalanche. It was an incident like this that led to his first hospitalisation. The second time, he admitted himself.

 

The third time he took a drill to his head and it was on this occasion that he was admitted to the University hospital where Deanna Troi was studying Psychology. She was a kind woman who tried to understand, but she could never know what it was to live in this way. Betazed was like being in a stadium at full capacity and it drove him to despair, so when the opportunity arose, he left. He still had to interact with other beings, but the noise of ship-bound life was nothing in comparison to a world populated by millions.

 

Those days are a distant dream now, and there are only two minds: Gomtuu’s, and his own. They share every thought and emotion. Sometimes it feels as if they are only one.

 

Many years have passed since the day Tam first boarded, although how many, he is unsure; within Gomtuu there no hours, or days, or even years, but Tam feels that he is getting old. It has been a long time since he saw the face of another humanoid, so when he receives the signal, he is anxious. This isn’t the first time a vessel has tried to hail him and at first he wants to ignore this one like all the others, but then it occurs to him that he can sense no minds, even though at this distance he should hear their thoughts, so this time he responds. Gomtuu shows him the transmission in his mind’s eye and he sees it: the last face he ever saw. ‘Data. We…I didn’t expect to see you again. How did you find us?’ Tam hears his own voice, dry and creaky from disuse.

 

‘The _USS Margaret Hamilton_ reported a sighting of your vessel several weeks ago.’ Data says in his cool, measured voice. ‘It is good to see you after all this time, Mr Elbrun.’

 

‘Yes. It’s good to see you again, too, Data, but please call me Tam.’

 

‘Permission to come aboard.’

 

Tam remembers to nod courteously, ‘Of course.’

 

Data beams directly onto the bridge. The presence or another being, even one whose mind is silent as space and who he remembers fondly makes him nervous. The android’s face is of course unmarked by time, but there is something different about it, though Tam cannot say what.

 

Suddenly, Tam wonders what _he_ must look like to Data. ‘I have to apologise for my appearance. I haven’t looked in a mirror since the _Enterprise_ , which was quite a long time ago now, wasn’t it?’

 

‘That is quite alright.’ Data returns.

 

‘There’s something different about you. May I ask…’

 

‘Since we last met I have obtained an emotion chip. Now I am able to feel just as you do.’ Data says, with an easy smile.

 

‘Oh Data, that’s wonderful.’

 

‘It is. It is like…it is like being switched on for the first time.’

 

What Tam expected to be a fleeting visit becomes an extended stay. The days turn into weeks and weeks into months. Data calls Starfleet to arrange for his shuttle to be picked up. He shows Data how Gomtuu provides for them – he can synthesise nearly anything from interstellar gas in an organ that functions like a primitive replicator; another organ processes waste and excretes water for drinking. Together they journey into an uncharted region of the Alpha Quadrant. They watch supernova and bathe in the accretion discs of new-born solar systems. Gomtuu has seen such sights a thousand times before but every time he is joined by a new being it is as if he is experiencing them for the first time again. And Tam feels himself renewed.

 

In some ways Data is unchanged by the emotion chip, his curiosity and ability to listen without judgment, the things that first drew Tam to him are much the same, but in others he is completely transformed – he exudes a natural charisma and is more animated in his expressions and gestures. He expresses joy and wonder with a childlike honesty, which Tam finds infectious.

 

One day, Data asks ‘did you learn of this ship’s origin?’

 

‘I did. He came from the galaxy Terrans call M31, but I think there’s another name for it…’

 

‘Andromeda. Fascinating. I have often studied the galaxies and wondered what kind of life might reside there.’

 

‘Gomtuu’s memories are vague, but I gather that it’s very different. Much quieter. The Milky Way is overflowing with life forms in comparison.’

 

After this exchange Gomtuu starts to think about Andromeda and more and more memories of the deep past begin to surface. He wonders if any of his kind remain there, or if like him they have fled to other galaxies. Eventually, the decision is made: he must return home, and soon.

 

The short time Data has been with them has made such an impression that Gomtuu urges Tam to ask if he will come with them, and even though he still has many reasons to stay in the Milky Way, Data agrees. Together, the three of them set off to the edge of the galaxy. It takes two months to reach the wormhole. Data makes a brief stop at _Deep Space Nine_ to say goodbye to his old friend Geordie, and at last they head into the gamma quadrant. What lies ahead will be a dangerous time navigating a region scarred deeply by the Dominion war. Tam is glad to have missed all this, but gladder still to have a well informed friend to keep them safe should they find trouble.

 

When they pass through the wormhole Tam feels the gaze of a thousand silent eyes that penetrate him to his core. In the minute and a half it takes to reach the other side they know every moment of his life and every thought he has ever had. The long millennia that lie behind Gomtuu are revealed to them, and more disturbingly, the millennia that are to come. Afterwards, Data seems shaken and Tam wonders if the Prophets could see inside his positronic brain. As they leave the wormhole behind Tam gets the feeling that he will not make it to the crossing.

 

One day, many years from now Gomtuu will reach the outermost star of the Gamma Quadrant and briefly orbit before entering the great void of intergalactic space. The jump to M31 will take many hundreds of years, perhaps a millennium. When he sleeps Tam dreams of the darkness that is to come. Last time Gomtuu made the crossing generations lived and died within him and knew nothing but its gloom. This time he will have only one companion, but he will be with him all the way.


End file.
